Messaging systems are well-known in the art. One of the simplest forms of messaging system is a voice messaging system. Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) is a term which refers to the integration of computer architectures with telephony systems. A voice messaging system is an example of a CTI system, and a further example is a unified messaging system.
A voice/unified messaging system may be implemented in conjunction with a private voice network. Each phone terminal in the private voice network is connected to a private branch exchange (PBX). Multiple PBXs may be provided to form the private voice network in a typical enterprise implementation. When a call is established between two phone terminals in the private network, each associated with different PBXs, then a communication must be supported between the PBXs. For this purpose, a PBX network is typically provided to provide for interconnections between the PBXs, for example utilizing the Q.SIG networking protocol.
A characteristic of voice/unified messaging systems is that various services are provided, such as voice messaging services. This enables a calling party to leave a voice message in a voice mailbox of a called party. In order to support this feature of a voice/unified messaging system, it is necessary for the communication between PBXs to be maintained during the entire call session even if the called party does not answer, when the called party greeting is being played and the voice message is being recorded. Thus, disadvantageously, network capacity and resources are consumed when voice messages are being recorded.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide an improved messaging system. An aim is to overcome the above-stated problem.